1
The sun rose over the horizon, the glorious warm colors reflecting off the seemingly endless frontier in front of them. Walking softly across the cool wood floor towards the end of the deck, the light brown haired girl grabbed onto the metal rails at the end, her violet eyes gazing across the sound ocean in front of her, everything seeming to have an orange tint to it. Her hair flowed and wisped in the wind of the ship she stood on.
Behind her, her childhood friend walked up to the spot next to her, his rough hands grabbing onto the rail as he leaned over it, the wind flowing through his white, blue-tipped hair.
"Good morning," Tony spoke to the young trainer beside him. His aquamarine eyes scanned to the side to admire the beauty of the girl, her hair flowing gently behind her. The said girl then turned her head towards the boy, her glowing eyes looking into his own.
"Are you ready for today?" she asked, her voice like an angel's silk. The boy's lips upturned into a crooked smile, the same one the girl, Steph, can't help but adore. Today was a big day for the two friends; today they started a new Pokémon adventure together. Now they are traveling from their old region of Sinnoh to the new, unexplored region of Unova. They decided after earning their 8 badges, that they would go to the next region that they learned about to earn the next 8.
"I'm more than ready, but I think you still need to get dressed," Tony chuckled, looking down at her pajamas that glowed in the morning light; a pair of green shorts with a white tank top, a soft red blanket over her shoulders. A soft giggle leaving her luscious, full lips, Steph turned around and walked back to her room in the back of the deck. With her hips swaying back and forth, she slipped into their shared room to get dressed.
Emerging from the depths of the room, Steph wore a tight, ripped-looking green tube-top with three straps on either side that wrapped around her arms that revealed most of her stomach and some cleavage. A white belt rested on her well-formed hips that held a pouch of Pokéballs and a few other items she could use in battle. She also wore the same shade of green skirt that stopped a few inches above her knees with a ragged design, followed by a pair of heavy duty white boots.
Tony, dressed in an aqua-green colored shirt with a black Pokéball design, and a pair of black capris pants with black skateboard shoes with green markings. On his back was a black backpack, full of everything they would need to set up camp, make dinner, or treat their Pokémon's injuries. And atop his head was a black and green hat turned to the left lightly.
"Hm, I like your new outfit," Tony grinned to the girl in front of him. The more he thought about it, him and Steph were getting quite older; in fact, Steph's 19th birthday was in only a few weeks away. Tony himself had turned 19 more than five months ago. "You're finally growing into the clothes," he chuckled, his neon green eyes resting on her full chest, rolling down to her rounded hips perfect for holding.
"That… or the clothes are getting smaller with every wash," she grinned back to him, walking back to the end of the deck. Now the sky was a bright blue color, the clouds no longer orange and pink, but silver and white. Looking ahead over the deep blue water, Steph could see a small town coming into their view quickly.
By the time she could see the houses clearly, they were almost to the dock. Tony rounded up all his supplies that he needed. In only a few short minutes, they were walking from the ramp to the metal dock in front of them.
"It says here we need to go to a Professor Juniper's house to get our Pokémon" Tony said, looking at an instructional map.
"Oak, Juniper, Birch… What's with the tree names?" Steph asked, looking at one of her spare Pokéballs. Unable to resist his true self, Tony spoke up with a grin on his lips.
"Maybe it has to do with the guys' wood," he replied, looking at her face carefully to see her expression, his own face hosting a devious smirk. Her eyes widened, her face growing into a massive blush.
"TONY!" she cried, covering her face with her hands to hide the blush. Why would he even say something like that? She sighed a bit, her face returning to normal. "Anyways, where do we find this Professor Juniper?" she asked, her arms soon folding over her chest. She was pretty excited to get a new Pokémon from a new region; although, she still brought two of her closest Pokémon along with her from Sinnoh. Gardevoir and Empoleon. Empoleon was her very first Pokémon, whereas Gardevoir has been her trusted friend, and never actually caught by Steph.
Steph and Gardevoir became friends one day when the girl was trotting through the forest by her house, only to see a terrified Ralts running towards her. Steph had been around eight or so at the time, so she had no idea what was scaring the Ralts; however, when the said Pokémon hid behind her leg, Steph knew she was to do something about it. Suddenly, out of the thicket of shrubs, a growling Stunky emerged, followed closely by two Skuntanks; they didn't look happy. Panicking, she scooped the Ralts in her hands, and made a mad dash for her house, which was about half a mile away. Panick was written all over her face as she held the Ralts tightly, until she tripped over a misplaced tree root. Falling, she still held onto the terrified Pokémon as she landed, quickly moving so that she wasn't crushing the Ralts from the pressure. She almost gave a nervous smile, but when she felt sharp claws bore into her back, her eyes went wide and a cry of pain ripped from her throat. Ralts tensed, watching helplessly as the Skuntank continued using their claws on the innocent child, tears streaking her face. And yet, it wore a face of determination, screaming 'I won't let go'. Slash after slash, the red liquid fell to the ground in small puddles, getting bigger and bigger. It was that moment, that Ralts knew if this young girl had the courage to stand up, so did she. Quickly, Ralts tore from Steph's grip, landing in front of her. Concentrating her energy, the Ralts used the move Psychic, and knocked the Skuntanks back, as well as the Stunky. Without a moment to waste, they fled back to the woods. Ralts saw that her heroine had gone unconscious. Using Teleport, they were soon outside the Pokécenter. It was then that the young boy Tony walked by, and saw the girl lying on her side, blood pooling around her, as the Ralts gave him a pleading look. Later that evening, the girl had been treated for her injuries, and lay on her stomach, smiling thankfully at the boy she knew as Tony. She thanked him, only to hear that it was not Tony who saved her, but the Ralts. The next day, Steph found the Ralts back in the forest, and thanked it. When Steph first became a trainer, the Ralts evolved into a Kirlia, and was willing to be caught; however, Steph solely promised she would never capture the Pokémon, to let it be as free as it could. Ever since then, the Ralts, now Gardevoir, has been Steph's loyal companion and protector.
Smiling at the memories, Steph looked beside her to see the Gardevoir smiling as well; they were so close they shared a small mental bond, though it was not very strong, but it was still there. And that meant more than just something.
"Here we are!" declared Tony, pushing his hat up a bit as he looked up at the lab. For a small town like this, it was quite impressive. The building looked up to snuff, and the colors were as bright as they could be. Tony stepped up and gently knocked on the door. When it opened, Steph saw a female professor standing before her. Well, that's a first.
"Ah, you must be the two trainers I got a call from?" she asked, holding her clip board to her side. Steph nodded to her.
"Yeah, we came from the Sinnoh region, so we're not familiar with anything around here," she laughed a bit nervously. The professor waved her hand with a smile.
"Not a problem. Come on in, and I'll get you two set up and ready to go in no time," she assured, turning on her heel and stalking into the building, Steph and Tony following after her. Once they were in, they were led to the back of the building, where they saw a few assistants observing and scratching notes in their books. The professor rummaged around a big before picking two small boxes, and returning to Tony and Steph. "Ah, we you are. These are your pokedexs. They've only been used for testing, so they should work quite well," she assured them.
"Wow, this looks so different than my other Pokédex," Steph commented, flipping the new Pokédex open and gaping at the pristine conditions. Tony nodded in agreement as he examined it before putting it in his pocket.
"Thank you, Professor," he bowed his head. With that, they were led to another room, where there sat three Pokéballs on a soft cushion in, what looked like, an incubator.
"And here we have your choice of Pokémon. I only have three starters for now, so you will get different ones," she explained.
"That's great! That makes training them more interesting," Tony piped up, looking at the Pokémon. "What types are there?" he asked. Tony had brought his Gallade, as well as his Magikarp, so he didn't want a type he already had.
"I have a water, a fire, and a grass," she told him. She asked who wanted which type, and Steph chose the water type, knowing Tony would want the fire.
"Alright, have a safe journey! Don't forget to check in with me once in while!" the professor waved goodbye to them as they headed north, towards the next town.
"This is so cool, I wonder what my Pokémon looks like," Tony asked, holding the pokeball. They hadn't looked at their Pokémon yet, to make it more interesting. Plus Tony liked a challenge.
…Just like the road to her heart…